Voters in Dallas ISD will see a proposed $6.2 billion bond issue on the ballot in May.
The district’s board voted unanimously Thursday to send the proposal to voters. District leaders say the proposal would allow them to build more than two dozen schools, renovate existing campuses and add enough permanent classroom space to allow schools to get rid of their portable classrooms.
It would also carry a property tax increase, which would amount to $33.48 on a $500,000 home, the average home price in the district.
During public comments, Olivia Solis, a second grader at Solar Prep School for Girls, urged the board to support the proposal. It’s important that the district provides spaces where kids feel safe, she said.
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“When I’m in my classroom, I feel safe,” she said. “And when I feel safe, I’m brave enough to learn, ask questions, and imagine who I might become someday. Having a school that is taken care of helps me believe I can shine and play big.”
Olivia’s dad, Miguel Solis, president of the Commit Partnership, told trustees that they’re in a pivotal moment for the district. Solis, a former Dallas ISD teacher, administrator and board member, said the board has an opportunity to make sure every student can walk into a school that makes them feel that they matter.
“The question is not whether this investment is too large,” he said. “The question is whether Dallas will meet this moment with the ambition it requires or allow it to pass.”
Dupree Scovell, a Dallas real estate executive and chairman of the district’s Citizens Bond Steering Committee, said the bond package would be a good move for the city. Investing in public schools means investing in the future workforce of North Texas, he said.
Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde walks around tables filled with trustees and leadership team chiefs during a bond workshop on Thursday Dec. 18, 2025. The board workshopped the district’s next bond package, a potential $6 billion plan aimed at modernizing campuses and stabilizing classroom conditions across the 240-school system.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Scovell said this year’s bond package differs from previous iterations in that the district doesn’t need to convince voters that its schools are a terrible learning environment. Most of the district’s most pressing facilities issues were addressed in previous bond packages, he said. So this year, the district can campaign on continuing that momentum, he said.
“It worked in 2020, and now we’re doubling down on that investment,” he said.
Before the vote, board member Lance Currie acknowledged the $6.2 billion figure might seem eye-popping at first glance. But that number is large because the district itself is large, he said. He noted that the tax increase for an average home in the district would come to a little over $3 a month.
“We’re asking people to sacrifice a cup of coffee once a month,” he said.
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Board member Byron Sanders said the plan was an opportunity to make sure that every student in Dallas ISD has a top-notch school, no matter what part of the city they live in. Many of the buildings targeted for renovation or replacement have been in bad shape for decades, he said, and it’s unfair to expect students in poor neighborhoods to go to decrepit schools.
Sanders noted that when the district has invested in its buildings in recent years, academic improvement has often followed. He pointed to Pinkston, Roosevelt and South Oak Cliff high schools, all of which have either been rebuilt or undergone major renovations within the past decade. All three moved from D or F to B ratings in the years after they reopened.
“Dallas ISD already showed you what we could do when you make the investment,” he said.
The proposal comes in four parts: Building and renovation, technology, debt service and swimming pool upgrades.
Building projects make up the biggest piece of the package, at nearly $6 billion. With that money, the district would build 26 new campuses to replace existing schools, renovate existing buildings to bring classrooms in line with program needs and upgrade outdoor spaces like playgrounds and courtyards, among other projects. It would allow the district to add about 400 classrooms, enough that schools across the district could remove their portable classrooms.
The other three propositions would fund smaller-dollar projects. Proposition B would give the district $144.7 million for handheld student devices. Proposition C, the debt service portion of the package, would allow the district to refinance certain debt, which district leaders say would save $10 million. That proposal totals $143.3 million. Proposition D would include $26.25 million for renovations to the district’s aging swimming pools.
The bond proposal goes before voters on May 2. Early voting will be held April 20-28.
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